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The most controversial appointment of the reshuffle was Nadine Dorries as culture secretary. It didnt just lead to headlines that Boris Johnson was escalating the culture wars and aggravate Ms Dorriess critics in the arts world with the screenwriter Russell T Davies this week labelling her a f***ing idiot to i. It also came as a surprise to her colleagues. Its just mad, was one ministers blunt reaction on discovering the news.

Not only was it a notable promotion for the former health minister, her straight talking ways mean that traditionally she hasnt been viewed as Cabinet material.

She spent much of her parliamentary career in political Siberia after calling the then prime minister and chancellor David Cameron and George Osborne two arrogant posh boys.

A long-time supporter of Mr Johnson, her appointment was read as sending two important signals: 1. Loyalty pays off 2. The government is upping the ante on culture wars. Evidence of the latter has been on full show in Manchester this week where Ms Dorries has been making waves at the Conservative Party conference.

In a series of appearances, Ms Dorries suggested that the BBC is an institution staffed by people whose mum and dad worked there, warned that the corporations next licence fee settlement would be dependent on change and suggested that the BBC might not exist in 10 years time.

It was part of a wider theme with the culture wars opening and closing Tory conference. Party chairman Oliver Dowden kicked things off with an attack on cancel culture while the Prime Minister ended it by railing against the tearing down of statues, warning the country was at risk of a know nothing iconoclasm.

In a week that saw Tory activists gather for their first in-person meet since Mr Johnson announced a tax rise, its understandable that ministers are keen to have some things to point to that play well with the base. As ministers pushed for workers to return to the office, the phrase stop woke-ing from home was a regular utterance in the fringes.

But up until this point, Mr Johnson has been reluctant to fully step into culture war issues. So, whats behind the noise? Opinion is divided in the Tory party as to whether recent moves really amount to a hardening of the governments culture war position.

As one adviser puts it: A lot of this is talking tough so you dont have to walk the walk. They argue that by having someone who is prepared to be very vocal and indulge in a bit of BBC-bashing, the government actually has less to prove on policy.

Although there are senior figures in Downing Street pushing for a tougher stance such as head of policy Munira Murza and her husband Dougie Smith, Mr Johnsons preferred approach has been to wait for the other side to overstep and then jump in.

Even Ms Dorriess appointment can be read through this prism. It comes as relations between the government and BBC have come under strain with a very public row over the appointment of the journalist Jess Brammar as executive editor of the BBCs news channels.

Old social media posts were dug up by media on the right to claim Ms Brammar was unsuitable for the role while former No 10director of communications Robbie Gibb warned the BBC it cannot make this appointment if it wants to retain the support of the government.

By bringing in Ms Dorries, one government insider argues that Mr Johnson is showing two can play at that game. Tory MPs complain that so far the government has played too nice.

The new BBC chairman Richard Sharp may be a Tory donor, but he is a former Goldman Sachs banker, not a bomb thrower. He is not going to take on the BBC in the way that the other mooted candidate Charles Moore former Spectator editor could have.

In Ms Dorries, the BBC faces a politician who is willing to give them a tough time. But the caricature often conjured up of her as someone who wants to preside over the end of the BBC could also prove wide of the mark.

Supporters of Ms Dorries say much of the commentary around her appointment amounts to snobbery. She is a successful author in her own right and someone who is unashamedly pro Coronation Street when many of her colleagues would rather talk opera.

Its part of the reason she was picked by No 10. She sounds different to many of her cabinet colleagues her working class roots means that on some of the key levelling up issues she has an air of authenticity. Whats more, Ms Dorries isnt particularly attracted to the phrase culture wars, instead preferring to view such fights through the lens of social mobility.

While the Government wants to have the fight on British history and statues, there are limits to how far both she and Mr Johnson want to go. There is a reluctance, for example, to expand into areas such as trans rights.

But even if Downing Street is just looking for a focussed fight, it doesnt take much to transform into something else.

Relations between the BBC and government didnt exactly blossom this week with Mr Johnsons tetchy appearance on the Today programme with Nick Robinson, and every time Ms Dorries attacks the corporations staff, saying their parents all worked there, it leads to a backlash amongst employees to say she is wrong, with Huw Edwards among those to hit back.

Its why few on either side believerelations between the Government and the BBC will improve anytime soon instead, expect the opposite.

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Nadine Dorries is prepared to give the BBC a hard time dont expect relations to improve any time soon - iNews